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Friday, 18 December 2009

This has taken me a long time to post up but this is the making of my Big Draw piece that I recorded on my DV camcorder before speeding up showing the process i went through to create the stop motion piece. It shows the rigging I set up for the pen and camera. I was very happy with how the piece came out but it was a lot more time consuming than I originally thought. It was worth it though when i saw my final piece on the big screens in the centre of Manchester.

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

This is the trailer for the film Number 23. It is about a man who reads a book about an obsession with a number and after reading it contracted the obsession. He see's the number everywhere and truely believes it is ruining his life. He finds connections with ever aspect of his life. This is a good example of how one of our ideas would work.

We would like to try and make our audience feel uncomfortable so they could relate to the feeling we are trying to portray. After speaking to liz she had the idea of designing masks. We wanted to incorporate both of these so the idea was that a character would be wearing a mask but wouldn't realise there is anything wrong with him. After a series of reactions make the character paranoid he finally see's his reflection and all comes clear to the character and the viewer. We were thinking of filming the piece first person like the film Cloverfield:-

Saturday, 24 October 2009

This is a piece I found online by "Special Guest" advertising Timberland Pro boots. Special guest is a sister company of 1stAveMachine. There is a narrative to the piece, the boot is a construction site worker and the ad is showing anti-fatigue technology so you can continue all day. The boot has a personality and is a likable character. The target audience can relate to the boot in the ad who shows they will get a better performance if purchased. I think the whistling sound compliments the design of the ad well.

Thursday, 15 October 2009

When looking at introductions to films and programmes it got me thinking about this question above. Many people see titles in different ways. Some see it as just text coming up on screen informing you who is doing what in the piece you’re about to watch, some see it as in introduction to the whole movie or even the first chapter and some see it as an art form in its own right. Is it worth spending money on good titles? Is it equivalent to having a good poster or DVD cover? Some people obviously think so as there is now a whole market for designing and producing title sequences. As well as this there are countless forums and websites dedicated to looking at anddiscussing the titles in depth showing that thought and money obviously go into making this moving text at the beginning of your favourite films. I think its important to see what these title designers and producers are trying to achieve. I have found numerous interviews and articles by title designers discussing their title pieces from all over the board. By looking at sequences from successful films as well as unsuccessful ones I can see how they influenced the rest of the picture. I have also found articles on festival openings and titles used as pilots or trailers so see how different media approaches the same issues.

Interview with Kyle Cooper

The first article I read was an interview with Kyle Cooper (a titles designer and producer) talking about the title sequence his team produced for the film “The Incredible Hulk”. At the beginning of the interview is an interactive window that allows the viewer to watch the title sequence again. In this he spoke about how the piece was actually produced and techniques used as well as the aims of the piece. He also tells us how the director wanted him to include curtain aspects and what he wanted to achieve in the titles himself. He mentions past projects and how they compare to the piece he had just completed and how the music plays a part in his projects showing his working methods. Cooper does not come across very well in this interview, he seems arrogant and takes all the credit for the piece, which was infact a team effort. After the interview there is a section for readers comments and therefore a chance for an open discussion about the article as wellas thoughts on the final outcome.

Screenshots from “The Incredible Hulk” title sequence. (Picture 1)

This is a good in depth article that lets you into the working mind of Kyle Cooper. It shows clearly what he wanted to achieve and what he had to do to obtain the footage he needed. The interactive aspects to the interview also help you understand what he is talking about. There is a link to see the title sequence spoken about which is ideal for refreshing the memory. Also by putting in images of what Kyle Cooper is speaking about in the relevant places is really helpful in visualising the frame. The only downside to the interactive nature of this interview is that it does not show Kyle Cooper in a good light. Readers can post comments on the end of the interview and there are a lot of negative views about Cooper taking all the credit for a team effort. This therefore tarnishes his reputation but is that a bad thing if people who deserve the credit are getting it? I must say after this interview my opinion about Cooper changed. I don’t believe the article is bias as he answered the questions himself, I just think he comes across as an arrogant man. But as I mentioned before this could be down to how the article was presented, had I not read the comments I too may have had a different opinion.

Interview with Eduard Kargin

The next article I read was an interview with Eduard Kargin that spoke about the titles he and his team had just completed for a Russian film called “Новая Земля” (translated to “Terra Nova”). He takes us through the design process and goals of the piece before talking about his inspirations for the stylisation. He compares his piece to pieces by MK-12 and PSYOP. As for the style he bases that very much on the music video for “Spitfire” by The Prodigy. He then continues to talk about working in a team and how they managed to capture the mood of the whole film in a piece which is just 1 minute and 40 seconds long. The film itself wasn’t very successful but the titles haled as cutting edge. Terra Nova was described as “so turbid and gloomy that the audience couldn’t appreciate it.” (http://www.artofthetitle.com/2009/06/08/novaya-zemlya/, 27/07/09) by Eduard in the interview but the title sequence was included in a special event as one of the past years cutting edge motion works.

Screenshots from “Terra Nova” title sequence (Picture 2)

This article is an informative and descriptive piece that explains how the piece of work was designed and produced. It is well written and the questions asked by the interviewer are very relevant to the subject in hand. You know what you’re reading is the facts as you are hearing it from the horses mouth. This could help you develop your own working methods as you can see that it works for the big names. This reassures the readers that anything is possible giving the whole piece a positive atmosphere. It is a great article from a research purpose because the influences mentioned could then be researched into further to gain a better understanding of Eduard Kargin himself, as well as what he has tried to achieve in the titles. After looking into these myself there is a clear link between the pieces. This can also reassure up and coming designers, as they are encouraged to use techniques they have seen from other influences in their pieces. This piece works well as the reader feels that they connect with Eduard Kargin. It puts Kargin in a good light as he was willing to give up time to do the interview and helps to promote his good reputation via word of mouth.

Interview with Kevin Dart, Stephane Coedel and Cyrille Marchesseau

The third article I read was a large 3-part article and interview with the 3 collaborators and producers of a title sequence for a fake film ie. a film that was never produced. Kevin Dart the author, animator Stephane Coedel and composer Cyrille Marchesseau. The film is called “A Kiss From Tokyo” that actually derived from a book called “The World of Yuki 7”. The title sequence ended up being used as a promotional piece for the book with possible plans to expand in the future. The titles and credits are very much like that of 60’s spy thrillers such as “The Avengers” and “James Bond”, complete with a homage soundtrack. The collaborators talk to the interviewer about the production of the title sequence as well as the pre and post production of the titles too. They outline their inspirations and the individual parts they produced as well as how they managed to work together even though they were in different areas of the world. Cyrille talks of her research into soundtracks and her homage outcome. Kevin is speaking about the character and how he wanted her to be perceived as well as the whole piece. Stephane finishes by informing us how she created the animation and pulled all the parts together.

Screenshots from “A Kiss From Tokyo” title sequence and credits (Picture 3)

I thought this was a brilliant article. It is very in depth and the fact that the interview consists of all three of the creative minds it is not biased in any way. Everyone has an equal say showing what they have produced. This interview was similarly set out to the Kevin Cooper interview I wrote about earlier with a chance to see the titles and the final piece broken down into sections. This therefore means it is easier to read as it is also broken down and also easier to visualise what the collaborators are talking about. Imbedded throughout the piece were sound clips, movie clips and influences works. This creates more interest in the piece as well as managing to keep hold of the readers’ attention through what is a long interview. The comments after this interview were completely different to the Kevin Cooper interview. They were actually complimenting the designers and the piece which helps their reputation and lifts the designers self esteem when looking back to see the publics views. After all, these titles will not have as much airing as the film titles featured earlier, so this is a key way for the collaboration to get feedback.

Article about “F5 Title Sequence”

The last article I read was not as in depth as the others but it got the point across to the audience. This article is about a title sequence for a moving image festival in New York. The festival has a range of speakers that attend and give talks to inspire and motivate new designers. The F5 festival employed a company called “Dvein” to design and create a title sequence that represented the festival and what it is all about. The company wanted to capture the soul of each speaker in the title sequence of the festival. By asking each speaker for 5 objects that inspired them or had something to do with their work they had a starting point for their title sequence. The article was more of a thank you to “Dvein” but it described how they wanted to capture the essence of the festival and how they went about completing the piece. It goes on to talk about the lack of budget and the music composed for the piece and how it was an important part of the composition.

Screenshot from “F5” title sequence (Picture 4)

This short article as mentioned above was more of a thank you to the “Dvein” company but with some very interesting aspects woven into it. In has a large quote in the middle describing how they came up with the starting points and how the most important point of the title sequence was to capture the spirit of the festival. They mention that it is like a “multiple collaboration” even though the speakers didn’t know what they’re answers were being used for. This is very good press for the “Dvein” company as well as “Antfood” that produced the music for the piece. As this piece was done on no budget and was created for the love of titles and the challenge itself, this will look very good on the companies records and they could get much more work from this. Could this even be seen as free advertising space at the opening of the festival?

All the articles were written very well and were very informative about the pieces in which they were talking about. Some were more positive than others and some were set out better than others but that aside they all communicated a similar message. They all agree that titles are very important to the opening of an interactive piece, whether it be film, trailer or festival. Titles can be seen as the first chapter telling the audience information they need to know for the film to come. They could be to refresh memories of previous films or episodes that are important to this piece. They could even be used to set the scene or tone preparing the audience for what they are about to witness. Titles can do so much so they can’t be overlooked. The old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” applies in film too. If at the beginning of the film you are sat in silence watching a load of names run across the screen, it could really put you off and set you in a bad mood. This also applies to badly done titles too, so it is important that time and effort is spent on this section. I do believe creating good title sequences is an art form in itself and can be exploited to do so much more than just tell you that guy you know is in this film too.

Thursday, 8 October 2009

Anyone that knows me knows that i love silhouettes and Frank Miller's Sin City. This is a good combination of the 2. This is Frank Miller's 300 end credits that is 2.5D. I like the way the camera moves through the animation. The transition between silhouettes is really cleverly put together. The camera rotates around the layers slowly revealing the 2D images. Because of the use of space the composition is really well balanced, between the black and white and the different hues.

The end credits tells the story you have just seen but it still manages to captivate the audience. This is closer to the novel and therefore shows the link between the 2. This reminds me of an animation I found that won academy award winning shorts in 2005. It is called the The Extraordinary Explorations of Jesper Morello and i will be putting up a post about that shortly.

Wednesday, 7 October 2009

This is the sting I produced to be part the Manchester Big Draw.It is being used on Friday between information on the screens set up at the Triangle in the city centre. As you saw on my last post the Saab website was my inspiration. I used a microphone to record the pen sound separately as well as the humming in the background. I wanted to incorporate the subject matter into the design to create a more personal outcome. I'm happy with the outcome considering the time scale given.

I have recorded how it was done and that will be posted up soon to show you the processes I went through.

This is a video showing the new Saab Website which has brilliant new interactive navigation. I found this when looking around for ideas on Motiongrapher for the Big Draw brief we were given. The nature of this site keeps the observer interested. I like the interaction between the drawings and the live action. This gives me loads of ideas for future pieces. The music that plays over the top is great too as it can be continuously be played on a loop without distracting the observer from what they are looking through. I think this is one of the best interactive sites I've been on as it is visually pleasing and well put together. Like i said its always keeping you interested.

When looking through the site I came across the Perfect Curves section with the pen that can be moved around. It inspired my stop motion piece that i created for the Big Draw. I loved the idea of following the pen around the image as it is being drawn. I have translated that into a stop motion piece that will be used as a TV sting for the Big Draw festival. I will post the finished outcome later.

This is the first of 3 American UPS adverts i have found. Ive put these up here because i like the 3D techniques (cheers rick) that is used to create them. I like the idea that the surroundings and characters are all made from the boxes used by UPS and therefore makes them relevant to the subject in hand. Each one is based around the ideas and promises UPS make and then creating a funny narrative to entertain the audience. The sounds are suitable for the narrative selected and combine well with the imagdry to create a unique style to their series of adverts.

When looking into filming techniques and titles a came across this video showing some brilliant after effects visuals. It is an intro to the Partex oil and gas corporation and its history.

I love what they have done with the photos here. It is like they have been processed ontoacetate and are being studied on a light box. Combined with these photos are transparent blocks of colour that are placed on photos and white box surround. The layers moving around shift the focus and creates a balanced composition as well as fluid movement between frames. Using ink in water clips and combining them with these images also suggest the oil Partex deal with.

This is the sort of idea i had for my end credits of my current brief. I want to produce a series of photographs of the desk I've created in Maya. With these photos I wanted to arrange the photos to recreate the desk using a David Hockney photo montage style. But with each photo lit differently. The objects would be arranged along the sides of the desk and the camera would pan along it with the names down the center. The names may be scratched or stained onto the table. The idea is still in the development stage.

I found this website last year when doing research into Grant Gilbert who was one of the visiting lecturers. The 2 worked together to great the new BBC idents that are all based around the idea of circles.

When looking through this website I was impressed by the navigation. It is all based around broadcasting with moving images across the screen. When moving down the menu the buttons gently bump in showing it is highlighted. also a little blurb come up next to the button to tell you whats on that page. Once a button has been clicked on, the background wipes to another location showing working environments with people moving around the space. The information is then enlarged to proving easier to read.

The main headings remain across the bottom of the screen and are easily accessible throughout the site. This site is very easy to navigate as well as being pleasing to the eye.

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

To explain parody i may have to explain pastiche first. Pastiche is an imitation of a style that has previously been used. It is basically a copy of another artists working methods to produce similar results. A parody on the other hand is a pastiche which is mocking the original piece of work while keeping curtain aspects the same.

Parody is different to a pastiche or homage as it is not copying the work or the style to every detail but it is taking the subject matter then changing it in its own way to appeal to a new audience. It could be seen as breathing life back into a dormant piece.

There are many examples of parodies we see around us everyday. Parody is typical in contemporary comical films but can be found everywhere. For example below is the poster design for the first Star Wars film to be made called "A New Hope".

A comedy series called "Family Guy" then produced a parody of the film years later (this is also referred to as a spoof film). As well as doing their own version of the film they also parodied the poster design to produce their poster / front cover that you see below. The connections are clear so the audience can make the connection between the two films but see a twist has been made.

As well as this "Family Guy" version another has been produced by [adult swim] which is also along the same lines. It keeps the story and important details the same but just delivers them to the audience in a different manna.

Parodies are very popular with the public nowadays as parody films are being made all the time. Some are regarded as a dedication to the original piece where as some may just take the story and put a new take on it. In film this can be used as a clever technique to attract a wider audience as fans of the original as well as the new version will all join together to see the new piece. Parodies can seem a lot more personal to the audience as they can relate to the original piece giving them the satisfaction when connection the two.

I believe that parodies keep the original works alive as they keep audiences interested rather than letting them forget and move on. Both pastiche and parody are very similar and can both achieve this same goal. In an ever changing world techniques like these help cement the originals in history.

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

After watching a film called Planet Terror by Robert Rodriguez I saw an watched an interview with him and Quentin Tarantino at the Comic Conference. They were there to answer questions and they were advertising their new double of "Grindhouse", which was Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" and Quentin Tarantino's "Deathproof".

In this interview they both spoke about they're influences for their pieces and what effect they wished to gain. When Robert Rodriguez was asked about influences he mention that he was inspired and wanted to create a piece in a similar style to the old drive-in's and Grindhouse cinemas. Grindhouse is an American term for a cinema that showed exploitation films (often single screen cinemas). These used to show films of a violent and pornographic nature. The films shown at these places were mostly quite a poor standard as the film reels had travelled to and from states all over America. This included dust and scratches on the film as well as colour fading and melting because of the ware and tear they had been through.

He also mentioned how the posters for the films were often the best part and how they really showed them in a good light. This poster design above was created to imitate this style of poster but include these 2 contemporary films. He got the idea from a poster that both him and Quentin Tarantino owned. This was a double feature poster for Roger Corman "Rock All Night" and Edward Cahn's "Drag Strip Girls" shown below.

He maybe continuing to make films like as a cast has been announced for another film called "Machete" which was a fake trailer he had at the beginning of "Planet Terror".

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

This is an animation of the lesson Jack Black gives between words is dynamic and continuous which shows the energy and the emotion that Jack Black is putting into his speech. A change in type for the kids voice also emphasises the change between characters. on 'The Man', in School of Rock. The transitionsThe designer has also tried to create images using the type. He transforms the work Whitehouse into the same shape as the building itself as well as making a tunnel shape out of the "Down the hall" quote. The designer has used scale to emphasis the pitch Jack Black is speaking. By having the words larger on screen they have to move faster to keep up with the spoken words. This therefore helps show the energy and emotion Jack Black has. The scale also helps break up the screen producing new backgrounds to work with.

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

I saw this video over the summer, is a slow motion shot of a golf ball travelling at 150mph and bouncing off a steel plate.I love the way the ball moves when it is soaking up the energy of the impact. It seems like such a fluid motion for the violent action. It's weird how something hard to the touch can move like this. The idea of the shot is to show the beauty of something you would not expect and that you would usually miss. The shapes formed after the ball has collided with the steel plate reminds me of some contemporary sculptures and some pieces produced by Henry Moore.

Sunday, 6 September 2009

"Dark Phoenix was a work inspired by the character Jean Grey of the X-Men. I combined the typical clothing of the character in the comic with the face and the powers of the movie's Jean Grey" (Interview in 3D artist)

Rebeca Puebla is a freelance 3D character artist that has created characters for a wide range of companies. In the past she has created characters for companies such as Grin BCN who made the video game version of the film Wanted. Before that she also worked as a modeller on the series Pocoyo for Zinkia Entertainment. She also went on to work with Pyro Studies as a character artist. Through this she has developed a wide range of skills. She focuses on all aspects of the characters from concepts through to the surroundings and lighting.

The reason i have added this to my blog is because i love the fact she has taken this character and made it her own. I think this is really important in a piece and it attaches meaning and personalises your work. I think I have got this idea from playing in a band... hold on I am going somewhere with this. When covering a song i think it is more important and more impressive to personalise it rather than just copy it note for note. It shows you have more about you and shows that you don't ignore whats out there as well as not afraid to use other work and develop it in your own unique style.

Wednesday, 19 August 2009

This is the opening cinematics for game The Beatles™: Rock Band™ which is being released on the Sept 9th. This introduction to the game was produced by Pete Candeland who works at Passion Pictures.

Here he has managed to capture the life and the journey of the four superstars as well as putting in subliminal messages referencing to Beatle's songs and albums. He manages to take history and throw it into the 21st century by producing this modern take on a timeline. Pete has used a combination of 2D and 3D animation in this piece. The 2 dimensional work is used for a vintage 60's look towards the beginning of the animation. This then progresses into 3 dimensional animation towards the end showing how times have change and more to the point how technology and the band moved forward. Giles Martin has also managed to thread some of the Beatle's famous tracks together to produce the soundtrack to the piece. The songs are then reflected in the imagery used, showing a clear connection and a good collaboration.

The Gorillaz

You may recognise the animation style from his other pieces that have been aired all over the globe. Pete Candeland was responsible for the 8 music videos produced for the band "Gorillaz" as well as "The journey to the east" that was produced for the BBC 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage. On the Beijing project he worked with Rob Valley to produce these films that were based on the traditional Chinese folklore.

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

This is a music video created by Shynola for Strawberry swing by Coldplay. Shynola have produced music videos such as "Go With The Flow - Queens of the Stoneage", "Good Song - Blur" and "Move Your Feet - Junior-Senior". These music videos are very much computer generated but they have approached this challenge with a more hands on method. Their aims for this video was to capture the mood of the piece while trying to tell a story at the same time.I think they have completed this challenge well by using so fantastic stop motion animation.

Something Shynola really wanted to focus on was the use of different camera angles by changing the way Chris Martin was laying / standing in the road. As well as this the wanted to show a lot of interacting with surroundings and materials. this is shown by use of the cape and the umbrella. Obviously this is a very time consuming method of creating a music video but they make it look effortless.

They have captured the music as well as develop and combined a story / meaning to the lyrics provided. they worked in close collaboration with Coldplay to produce this outcome. I you know me well then you will understand I am not a big lover of Coldplay but when i saw this video it really inspired and impressed me. I always have great respect for thous who try something new, even if it is just a new take on something. Making something personal.

Thursday, 13 August 2009

I found this title sequence when doing my critical studies summer brief. It was made for a Russian film called Novaya Zemlya (translated to “Terra Nova”).

The film itself wasn’t very successful but the titles haled as cutting edge. The designer that was haled for the sequence is calledEduard Kargin. The thing I love about this title sequence is that it manages to sum up the whole film in the 1 minute and 40 seconds he has.Eduard Kargin described Terra Nova as “so turbid and gloomy that the audience couldn’t appreciate it.” but his work had a completely different impact. The title sequence was so highly regarded it was included in a special event as one of the past years cutting edge motion works.The 2D design is impressive and works well when put into a 3D space. Each section flows easily into the next making it easy to watch and easy to follow. Showing the cardboard and the ruff shapes gives the piece more character and relates more to the film and the designer. The way Eduard designed the sequence was by taking all the important parts of the film and including them into the opening sequence so it truly got you into the spirit of the film. The music suits very well as it produces a chilling and scary atmosphere that unease's the audience slightly and makes them wonder what is in store for them.

Eduard Kargin also took inspiration from a music video called "Spitfire" by the Prodigy (shown bellow) as for the styling of the whole piece. The subtle glow over the top of the whole piece with text written in it helps create the chilling atmosphere. I think this technique works really well and gives it a professional finish.

"Working on Return of the King was an amazing experience. It was a tremendous challenge on many levels, but I think I learned a lot on the way. I had only been working professional for less than a year before I got that job. So to get the call to go work on tat project was a huge thrill." Interview with Dylan Cole on www.cg-node.com

I love the realistic scenery and CGI in "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy which made me wonder who had done it and how it has been done? In "The Return Of The King" a young artist called Dylan Cole created a lot of the scenery by matte painting. He used Photoshop, After Effects and Cinema 4D to develop shots after they had been film and passed onto him. Using a lot of inspirational photo's and the past 2 films as a starting point he produced the stunning landscapes like the ones shown bellow.

Shot Dylan Cole Received.

How the shot finally ended up after matte painting.

He works using a graphics tablet and paints in the background of the shot using the software mentioned before. He then transfers these images to Cinema 4D because of the camera mapping tools available. Artists like Cole are the last people to touch a shot before it is edited together so everything has to be finished just right. But on the other hand (as Dylan Cole points out) "You have to realize that you are creating a single shot in a movie, not a fine art painting". I have a lot of respect for Dylan Cole as he captures the time and mood well in ever piece he completes. I thinks its fantastic how he can change an image so dramatically.The detail he goes into when producing a piece of work like this is absolutely fantastic and seamless. As technology moves on could Matte painters like Cole be the "Fine artists" of the future?

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Shilo had just 3 weeks to go from concept to this composite with this piece. After watching this animation it shows what can be done in a short time scale with good time management. This is a dark piece aiming to promote Under Armour's New series of football boots. The animation produced gives the illusion of speed as well as showing the product all coming together. Overall the animation shows that the product could improve your performance and they are not to be taken lightly.

The illusion of speed is created by the trails left by each of the components as they fly through the air. The contrast between the bright flickering trails and the still night sky creates focus which the audience follow throughout the piece. As well as this the particles moving past each component, when focused on, show the motion and speed of each component as they come together. The camera also shakes when focusing on a component showing instability therefore exaggerating the movement of each component.

As the animation continues, you see the boot form from nothing. The pieces don't gel together, they are thrown together with exact precision which therefore shows the fierce nature of the product. The boots are almost being beaten into shape in an industrial manna. This therefore attracts the male clients to the product which is most likely to be the market Under Armour is aiming for.

The score for the piece was created by Gavin Little who based the sounds and music on the original Star Trek intro. This is a good area of research as the intro also focused on showing speed and industry together through open space. I think the score works well with the animation as the metallic sounds help bring the product together as well as exaggerating the speed of the product.This is a great piece of advertising by Shilo, showing the product in a good light as well as attracting the right audience.

Thursday, 16 July 2009

When looking at Saddington and Baynes i found this concept/animation of the Bombay Sapphire bottle. After our last project of the first year it is good to see that the standard I managed to achieve with my final pieces is close to the professional standard of concept ideas used in the production world. Looking at this bottle shows what a little more time and effort in this field could produce and where it could therefore lead my studies. Seeing similarities like these excites me when thinking of the future and what I'm heading towards.

I found this piece while looking for inspiration and techniques to use while creating my next short "abandoned" piece. I plan to do this in first person as i have found the location in which to film and the ideas kept popping up in my head. I found myself laying in the fields trying to get the camera angles i wanted even without the camera by my side. Probably best i was in a field in the middle of nowhere. I'll keep you posted on how that's going.

This piece is directed by Neil Stubbings at Le Mob studio and really stood out to me. I think the animation of the first person movement is brilliant especially combining it with the blurry waking moments camera work. I haven't seen anything like this before.The sounds, designed by Gregor Rosenberger, creates the humourous quality in the piece and emphasises the observers movements and characteristics of the pink alien. This, like Zapping below, combines 3D and 2D animation beautifly. These are the techniques i would like to be able to develop in my future pieces.

Lost and Found also won the 2008 Onedotzero_ch audience award in switzerland after its showing at the award serimony.

Monday, 13 July 2009

I found this short film a short while back and it really stood out to me. I really like the animation work in the piece with the combination of 3D and 2D imagery used. I also love the emphasis created by the sounds used in conjuction with the visuals. I think the character taken from the logo is well animated and interesting. The audience want to find out what is going to happen to him. One of the reasons i like this so much is because it reminds me of simalar pieces created by Pixar.

This piece was created by the small team of Ikso studio. Ikso studio is only made of four members but they found that they worked well together and decided to branch out after their last employers weren't aiming as high as the group wanted. This is my favourite piece they have created.

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

In February 2009 DVEIN were given the opportunity to design and create the opening title sequence for the F5 festival that is held in New York.

The F5 festival is a creative collision of sources from all over the world. The aim of the festival is to try and change the way designers think about their work and their lives. As well as the companies mentioned in the title sequence companies such as Mainframe, MTV and Curious Pictures will be attending.For a full list of companies see the website:-http://f5fest.com/

DVIEN wanted to create a piece that captured the aspects or the thoughts of each of the speakers, appearing at the festival, to tie them together. This piece was done on a zero budget but was created to mirror the ideas behind the whole festival. A collaboration between DVIEN and ANTFOOD was formed, doing just that.

"When we were invited to make the F5 titles, we wanted them match the eclectic spirit of the conference. The idea was to get the soul of the speakers into the titles in some way.

We asked each speaker to name five objects that inspire them or has something to do with their work. We received all kinds of answers—really interesting objects that gave us a great starting point: wind turbines, microscopes, lights, smoke, lamb rib cage, French bulldog…

The speakers didn’t know what their answers would be used for, but they were the seed for our story. In this way, all the speakers added their bit. There is not a unique authorship but rather a multiple collaboration."

The soundtrack was supplied by ANTFOOD and is an important part of the title sequence. The imagery is emphasized with the stop - start nature of the track. It keeps momentum through the piece while focusing on each individual designer creating natural pauses in the list of speakers. The soundtrack is just as important if not more important than the imagery used.

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

The short time I've been home I have managed to complete my next guitar. This is a custom Telecaster which i stripped back to repair and seal before designing the finish I wanted to apply. As a base coat I've used a matt black and over the top a glossy one for the tree / vine wrapping around the components. It's a subtle design but when it catches the light it looks really impressive. I like to combine my interest with my designs and since music runs my life...

About Me

Hey, I'm Steve and this is my blog.
I'm a Yorkshire lad who studies Moving Image in Stockport.
On here I will post some work I've done in and out of uni.
But this is mostly for research purposes which also shows a bit of me and the stuff I like.